What is the best engineering advice you ever received? 205

[tulum]

I would like to continue engineerdaves series of threads; what frustrates you at work, and what satisfies you at work...

I just finished reading one of Donald Trumps books entitled "the way to the top". What he did was he asked the top executives across the US to submit the one single most important thing they learned to help them achieve businees success.

For example one qoute was (and is very applicable to engineering):

"Although you can't always control where you are planted-to which department or specific project you are assigned-you can control the experience while you are there...bloom where you are planted."

So my question to the forum is: What is the best engineering advice you ever received?

 

[vonbad]

I wanted to be 201.

Best engineering advice came from my father (40+ yrs electrical utility).

1. Listen. Older engineers and shop people know the real world, books are great but not always applicable; and sometimes you have to take the lid off the box
2. Learn everything you can and apply it
3. Don't be afriad to ask.

 

[71corvette]

"If something doesn't look right, it probably isn't."

"Computer's don't make mistakes, but people entering data do."

 

[afterhrs]

Tinytim22,

" Computers dont't make mistakes, but people entering data do"

If this was true, companies wouldn't need I.T. departments.

It was either the computer or a woman, I just know it!

I can't find my lost shaker of salt!

Regards,
Afterhrs

 

[sayee1]

NiM: Do it right the first time, everytime, and ON TIME!!!
Keano: "If its not written down it never happened." Which I read somewhere else as "If it moves, train it...if it doesn't move, calibrate it...if it isn't written down, it never happened!"

"Imagination is more important than knowledge, for knowledge is limited while imagination embraces the entire world." Albert Einstein

"If you can't define it, you can't measure it; if you can't measure it, you can't evaluate it; if you can't evaluate it, you can't improve it !"


"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill

If we don’t change the direction we’re going, we’re going to end up where we’re headed.

Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts

You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. --Mark Twain

The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.

"It often takes more courage to change ones opinion than to keep it." Willy Brandt

Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.

Quality improvement will result from people improving their processes and from management improving the system.” —Thomas Pyzdek

Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them. Albert Einstein

"The starting point for improvement is to recognize the need." Imai

“Quality isn't something that can be argued into an article or promised into it. It must be put there. If it isn't put there, the finest sales talk in the world won't act as a substitute." C S Campbell

Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT'S relativity. - Albert Einstein

I always have one liners at the end of my email immediately after my signature.

This is one of the best sources for the one liners at the end of my email. I would unabashedly admit though, that I do it without reference to you guys here, maybe I need to add at least this site or thread as the source in the future.

Funny how many of colleagues and associates have reverted to me that they read the last line of my email first.


Thanks and regards
Sayee Prasad R CEng MWeldI MIOMMM


If it moves, train it...if it doesn't move, calibrate it...if it isn't written down, it never happened!

 

[NickelMet]

Thanks for sharing Sayee. I like the last one-liner especially, regarding my current job and all of the idiosyncrasies it has.

This one is just for levity: "Ages pass and so does gas." <think about it...and grin!>

~NiM

 

[CRG]

The sooner you get behind, the more time you have to catch up.

 

[That1Guy]

Although I forget where I originally heard this, it appealed to me after a particular interaction with a boss at a previous job.


"The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity."

And that's the sig on one of my email addresses.

NSPE

 

[NickelMet]

Some one-liners I have in my e-signature file:

Aristotle: "We cannot learn without pain."
Abraham Lincoln: "We hold the power and bear the responsibilities."
Thorton Wilder: "All excellence is equally difficult."
Anonymous: "Craftsmen are those people who cannot help doing whatever is given them to do better than others think worthwhile."

And in reality, my engineering career has mirrored certain aspects of those thoughts. To my interns, summer students, co-ops, technicians, and others I have always tried to impart excellence, responsibility, and the constant yearning for mental growth (not only in engineering but in knowledge of the world around them).

There are many many many good thoughts on this thread. I know I can't acknowledge each one, but each time I read a new piece, a smile lights my face. Truly to each and every one of you, thank you, for imparting a bit of wit and wisdom with the rest of us.

~NiM

 

[karlbamforth]

This one was shouted across the workshop shortly after a loud hammering was heard.

"Don't force it, get a bigger hammer"

Not really good advice but had me in hysterics, it was obviously a slow day.

Karl

 

[torch]

If it ain't broke - dont fix it.
The bigger the problem - the bigger the hammer.

 

[JasonEm]

This one is a bit off topic but when designing something I always remember what one of my Professors used to say:

"You can't make it lighter, stronger and cheaper - but you can pick two."

 

[amazingmg]

When in doubt, make it stout.

 

[weh3]

There is never time or money to do it right, but there is always time and money to do it over.

A machinist I worked with was asked how long it would take to do a certain job.
"Eight weeks", he said.
"Can you do it in six?" they said.
"Sure, I can do it in six weeks", he answered, "but it will still take eight."

In estimating time or cost, "It is what it is." A scope costs what it costs and takes how long it takes. You're better off not starting with scope, schedule, and budget all written in stone, because something will have to give.

William

 

[SolderingGunslinger]

Remember:

The man who keeps his nose to the grindstone, shoulder to the wheel and ear to the ground will have a hump back and be good for nothing but cutting bread with his nose.

Or

All work and no play makes jack a dull boy.

There will be seemingly wonderful jobs where you work eighty, get paid for forty, have more coworkers than friends and rarely see your family. If you survive, you might get to retire at sixty-five.

My personal philosophy is "I was looking for work when I came here and I will be doing he same when I leave".

Enjoy life!

I remain,

The Old Soldering Gunslinger

 

[ScottyUK]

Be nice to everyone on your way up. You will see them on your way back down.

Trust no man. And measure everything.

Your life is worth more than their profit. No task is so important that it can't be done safely.

Check isolations with your own eyes. The best SAP makes mistakes occasionally.

Prove dead before touching.




----------------------------------

If we learn from our mistakes,
I'm getting a great education!

 

[RARWOOD]

ALL engineers make mistakes, however, the good engineers find those mistakes before they become serious problems.

 

[NickelMet]

For those of us that have technicians, co-ops, interns, or students to manage:

? Never assign something you couldn't do yourself.
? Make the tasks worthwhile and meaningful.
? Praise the good, correct the bad, and cull the ignorant.
? Set the bar high and expect nothing less than the best.
? Mentor and teach, listen and learn, advise and manage.
? And always remind them to never confuse their career with their life.

Just some items I think about as a new set of youngsters start to filter in.

Also, some advise for all of us outside of work, this from Dave Berry (humorist): "There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'." (I have this posted on my wall at work and it draws smiles from people.)

~NiM

 

[ramshree]

The best advice I ever got was:

"Doing a mistake is normal. Not learning from it is foolish!"

 

[whyun]

Regarding mistakes, from a former boss:

Don't make any mistakes that will cost the company a lot of money.

 

[EddyC]

"Everyone Brings Joy To This Office. Some When They Enter, Others When They Leave."